Transportation system for shoe manufacture



Feb. 11, 1964 R. s. MURPHY 3,120,666

TRANSPORTATION sysmu FOR SHOE MANUFACTURE m l fAlToR RICHHRD 5. MURP Kn-r-roz NEVY6 Feb. 11, 1964 R. s. MURPHY 3,120,666

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Jan. 14, 1963 3Sheets-Sheet 3 MIME/wo mum/2o 5. MURPHY,

United States Patent 3,120,666 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR SHOEMANUFACTURE Richard S. Murphy, 7034 Northmoor, Clayton, Mo. Filed Ian.14, 1%3,Ser.fNo. 251,388 3 Claims. (Cl. 12--1) This invention relates toimprovements in shoe manufact-uring systems and in particular isconcerned with a transportation system used in shoe manufacture for mov-Ring the shoes to various working operations in their manufacture.

In the past, shoe manufacturing in the lasting, bottoming, and-finishingrooms of shoe plants have generally been carried out by moving cartscarrying thirty-six pairs of shoes'between each of the individual shoeworking operations in these various sections. It will be understood thatthe number of operations and Workers in each one of the lasting,bottoming and finishing sections or rooms may vary considerably fromplant to plant, but, as an example, may involve any-where from ten tothirty operations for each of the sections. The thirty-six pair cartsare wheeled from one operation to another as'the operations progress.This has occasioned the take up of a considerable amount of space, asthese thirty-six pair carts are bulky. Further, there is a quiteconsiderable tie-up of shoe inventory and also shoe lasts in theseoperations which entails a considerable amount of investment andexpense. Additionally, quite a bit of theworkers time is involved whenthe thirty-six pair carts are moved from one operation to another.

It is a feature of the instant invention that an overhead conveyorsystem is employed from which shoe trays are suspended at spacedintervals .that move in a cycle throughout the various operations ineach of the finishing, bottoming and lasting sections. The shoe traysare removable so that if it is required they may be taken out ofthecycle for any desired purpose. By means of this invention, floorspace is economized since no carts are employed and a free and openenvironment is obtained. Further, a great saving in last cost isemployed, as the lasts utilized may be reduced to a fractional number ofthose previously required.

It-is another feature that the work process time is substantiallyreduced to less than one-half the time previously required. By applyingheat by this process, wood lasts are in process only a short period oftime, e.g., twoand one-half hours through the lasting and bottomingrooms.

Additionally, the system is quite adaptable for changes in operations asthe speed of the conveyor may be altered to fit varying conditions.

As a further feature .of .this invention, specially designed shoe traysare employed making it very simple for the worker to remove the shoesfrom the tray while he is Working upon them and then replace them at theend of the operation upon the sametray aslit moves quite slowlyalongithe conveyor line.

A further significant feature of this invention resides in theemployment of specially designed driers through which the trays may moveas they are advanced by't-he conveyor line. The drying is doneautomatically as the trays with shoes placed upon them move through thedrier for a selected period of time.

The transportation system employed in this invention is relativelysimple'in design and can be installed in existing shoe factories witha'minimum of expense, time and labor, with the realization of greatsavings in manufacturing costs and economy of working time with anincrease in production. Additionally,-worker efiiciency is increased andthe system can be employed with no additional training'required of theworking personnel.

The above features are objectsof this inventionand further objects willappear in the detailed description which follows and will beotherwiseapparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose-ofillustration ofthisinvention, a preferred embodimentis shown inthe accompanying-drawings. It is tobe understood that thesedrawings relate to a typical shoe manufacturing system and thattheinvention is not limited thereto.

-In .the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is aplan viewof a schematic shoe manufacturing operation usingthe conveyor system of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view inelevation of the transportation system of thisinvention showing the conveyor and'a shoe traywith a worker atanoperating position;

ployed adjacent-the bottoming section showing the ele' vation of theconveyor lineto raise the shoe'trays overhead and outof the Way ofany'operations carried on beneath it for economy of space utilization;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged plan view of a shoe tray employed in thisinvention;

FIGURE 5 isaview in front elevation of the shoe tray shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an end view-in. elevation of the shoe tray of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view showing the inner engagement of the traysupport rod with-the shoe tray;

FIGURE 8 is an end view-in elevation of a drier showing the relationshipwith the shoe tray;

FIGURE 9 is an end view in elevation of a modified drier for employmentwith vertically-staggered trays; and

FIGURE '10 is afront view of the drier of FIGURE 9 showing therelationship ofthe vertically staggered trays.

In FIGURE 1 the transportation'system of this invention is shownemployed in a lasting sectionorroom .20, ,a bottoming section 22 with anassociated drying section 24,. and a finishing section 26. It-will beunderstood that the transportation system may be employed-in any one ofthese sections orall ofthem, as desired, and it'will also be understoodthat these rooms or sections may be.physically separated. It is also afeature of thisinvention'that, should it be desired, the conveyor systemmay beemployed in connectedfashion between all ofthe sections to formonecontinuous cycle rather than separate cycles for the lasting,bottoming, and finishing sections.

In the lasting section .20, a multiplicity of working stands oroperations are designated by the referencenumeral .2-8, and it will beunderstoodthat thesearethe conventional working operations employed in a'lasting of a shoe. A drier 30, to be described in further detail hereinbelow, is also employed.

In the bottoming section22, a plurality of conventional bottomingoperations are carried out as indicatedby the reference numeral 32. Adrying operation 34 may likewlse be carried outin the bottoming cycle.Further, in this bottoming operation, the shoes may be transferred tothe drying section 24' where they are passed'through two driers insequence thatare designated'by reference numerals 36'and 38.

In the finishing-section, the working operations and standsaredesignatedby the reference numeral 40, and, here'again, it' willbe.understood that these are conventional-working operations employed inthe usual finishing room.

Reference is madeto FIGURE 2 showing the conveyor system employed. Aconveyor line designated by the reference'numeral'42, and suspended froma-roof 44 by a roof'support rod-46, is utilized. The conveyor may beused with a-continuous chain 47 powered'by a conventional motor 48 toprovide for movement of one foot in three to five seconds, as anexample. The moving conveyor line is provided with a plurality ofelongated, rigid, tray support rods 50. These are connected to theconveyor line at spaced intervals, such as at distances of three feet,as an example. The bottom of the support element is formed in the shapeof a hook, as best appears in FIG- URE 7, and as designated by thereference numeral 52.

The shoe tray is best shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, and, as shown there,has a loop 54 at the top and a tray or body section 53. The shoe tray ismade of rigid metal construction, such as by the use of metal rodswelded together in rigid form. Extending transversely across the tray isa wooden support element or beam 58 from which extend twelve wooden pins59. These pins are used for supporting six shoes, it being understoodthat this is a three pair shoe rack. Wood is employed because thismaterial does not retain heat and tend to burn the shoes when the trayloaded with shoes is passed through a drier. It will be furtherunderstood that this number may be increased so as to provide for sixpairs in obvious fashion by increasing the length of the tray, and itwill be further understood that another beam 58 may be employedunderneath the first beam to provide for an upper and lower shoe supportsection.

The shoe tray is very simply fitted upon the rigid support elements byfitting the loop 54 over the hook 52. Thus, the tray may be eitheremplaced or removed from the support rod in a matter of seconds wheredesired.

The drying section 24 is more fully portrayed in FIG- URE 3. As thereshown, it will be seen that the section 60, which is adjacent thebottoming section, is depressed or lowered with respect to the elevatedremainder of the conveyor system, identified by the reference numeral62. This provides for the transfer of shoes from the bottoming to thedrying section by a worker, and after the transfer the shoe trays areelevated and lowered through the inclined sections 64 to the remainderof the elevated section 62 to keep the trays overhead out of the way ofworkers in any operations or activity that may be desired to be carriedout underneath this portion.

The driers employed in this invention are best shown in FIGURE 8 in oneform of drier and FIGURES 9 and 10 for another form of drier. Referringto FIGURE 8, the drier is composed of two elongated heating sectionsopposed to one another at an angle and designated by reference numeral68. These heating sections are provided with infrared heating lamps 70,which are directed to converge on an open tunnel-like space 72 throughwhich the shoe trays may pass. The drying sections 68 are spaced fromone another at the top to leave a slot-like space 74 through which thetray support rod 50 may pass. The diverging bottoms of the driers areconnected by a U-shaped sheet metal channel member or other walllikeenclosure designated by the reference numeral 76. The drier is of agenerally tunnel-like configuration with an open front end and an openrear end to provide for the ingress and egress of the trays as they movethrough the tunnel.

FIGURES 9 and 10 show a modified form of drier, designated by thereference numeral 80. In this form there is a top drier section 82 and abottom drier section 84, which are formed of generally a square-likecross section with a throat portion 86 between the two sections. Thebottom drier section 84 is closed by a channel-shaped wall 88 to providefor closure and confinement of the drier. A top slot portion 74 isprovided in the same fashion as for the drier 30 described in FIGURE 8.The drier 80 shown in FIGURES 9 and 10 accommodates an upper tray 90 anda lower tray 92, which are vertically staggered with respect to oneanother as shown in the elevation view of FIGURE 10. This provides foreconomy of space and closer spacing of the trays where more trays aredesired to be put on a single conveyor line.

Operation In the employment of the transportation system of thisinvention, conventional shoe working operations are carried out as in aconventional manufacturing plant. Thus, in the lasting operation, shoesare first of all partially lasted and loaded at the beginning of theoperation at what is generally termed a pull-over station, designated bythe reference numeral 100. The loading of the trays can be carried outby a single workman and the tray moves from the pull-over station 100,at the general rate of one foot in three to five seconds, to the nextmanufacturing operation 162 for side lasting, and from thence to a tackremoving operation 104, a repair operation 196, a heelseat lastingoperation 108, a cement spraying operation 110, a pounding operation112, a ball lasting and heel pressing operation 114, a toe trimmingoperation 116, a bed or toe lasting operation 118, a tack pulling andshank trimming operation 120, a toe trimming and grinding operation 122,through the drier 124, which is of the same construction as the generaldrier 30, previously described, in which the shoes may be reversed onthe tray to heat the uppers. After the drier 124, the shoes may then bepassed through an ironing operation 126, and finally to a check outoperation 128 where the shoes are removed from the conveyor shoe traysto a conventional shoe cart.

In the bottoming section, which s carried out in con vcntional bottomingfashion, the shoes are taken from the lasting operation and passed firstof all to a toe pounding operation 130, from which they pass in sequenceto a roughing operation 132, a shank adding operation 134 a grindingoperation 136, and a filling operation 138 where a filler cement isadded over the shank, Heating of the bottom of the shoe is also effectedprior to the filling or cementing operation which facilitates thepenetration of the cement into the pores of the shoe material. Aftercementing the bottom of the shoe and applying electric heat, the shoesole can be pressed onto the shoe within a relatively short period oftime, e.g., nineteen minutes, representing a great time saving in theshoe manufacture. From the filling operation, the shoes are passedthrough the drier 34, which is of a sutficient length to provide for asubstantial period of time for heating and drying the filler, such as inthe order of one minute, and, as an example, this drier may be ten feetin length. From the drier, the shoes may be mulled by spraying moistureover the heel of the shoe in a mulling operation 140 to eliminatewrinkling at this portion of the shoe. After this operation, the shoesare manually transferred to the portion 60 of the drying section shownin FIGURE 1.

In the drying section, the shoes move slowly in the direction of thearrows shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 and move through the two driers 36 and38. The two driers are employed in sequence with a space between them inorder to prevent undue moisture removal. After the shoe trays return tothe section 60, the shoes are removed from them and transferred back tothe bottoming conveyor line at station 142, which is a heel attachingstation. From there the shoes pass to a sole laying operation 144 (inwhich electric heat may be applied to cement the soles), a leaf trimmingoperation 146, edge trimming operation 148, a sole brushing operation150, and finally to an inspection station 152 where the shoes areremoved from the bottoming conveyor line.

The shoes removed from the bottoming conveyor line are again put onthirty-six pair carts and may be transferred to the finishing section orroom. The finishing operation is likewise carried out in conventionalfashion.

In the finishing operation the shoes are loaded upon the shoe trays andpassed through an edge trimming operation 154, a dust blowing operation156, an edge inking operation 158, and a drier of the same generalfashion as drier 30 to dry the ink. The shoe trays are then passedthrough an edge setting operation 162, and another drier 164, similar todrier 160, from where they are passed to a sanding operation 166, aolishin operation 168, du'st blowing operation 169, tab pullin op ration 170, bottom painting operation 172, and another drier 174 ofsimilar construction as drier 160, and finallly to the last pullingoperation 17 6. I

In the above description, it will be understood that the variousoperations have been described as typical and that it will be realizedthat these operations maybe varied from one plant to another accordingto conventional practices employed fitting the pa'rticular type of shoemanufactured and the particular manufacturing process follow in thatplant. However, in all instances, the movement of the shoes in thetransportation system of this invention can be eifected as describedherein with any type of drying and working operation deemed necessary.

Various changes and modifications may be made Within the purview of thisinvention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Suchchanges and modifications are within the scope and teaching of thisinvention as defined by the claims appended thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for transporting shoes in manufacturing plant through amultiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyorline, means for mounting a multiplicity of racks on said conveyor lineat spaced intervals, including rigid means connecting the conveyor linewith each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, and means formoving said conveyor line past said working operations whereby workersat said working operations can remove shoes from the racks, work uponthem, and replace them upon the racks after each individual workingoperation, and heating means positioned in vertical spaced relation tosaid conveyor line to heat shoes positioned upon each rack as it movespast the heating means, said heating means comprising a tunnel-likechamber having an open front and rear end to admit the rack and beingfurther proivded with an elongated opening to receive the elongatedrigid element connecting the conveyor line with the shoe rack.

2. A system for transporting shoes in a shoe manufacturing plant througha multiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyorline, means for mounting a multiplictiy of racks on said conveyor lineat spaced intervals, including a rigid means connecting the conveyorline with each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, andmeans for moving said conveyor line past said working operations wherebyworkers at said working operations can remove shoes from the racks, workupon them, and replace them upon the racks after each individual Workingoperation, and heating means positioned in vertical spaced relation tosaid conveyor line to heatshoes positioned upon each rack as it movespast the heating means, said heating means comprising a tunnellikechamber having an open front and rear end to admit the rack and beingfurther provided with an elongated opening to receive the elongatedrigid element connecting the conveyor line with the shoe rack, thetunnel like chamber having opposed sides provided with infrared heatingmeans and a closed bottom.

3. A system for transporting shoes in a shoe manufacturing plant througha multiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyorline, means for mounting a multiplicity of racks on said conveyor lineat spaced intervals, including rigid means connecting the conveyor linewith each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, each of saidracks having a plurality of paired pins extending horizontally from saidrack perpendicular to the conveyor line and each of said pair of pinssupporting a shoe thereupon, and means for moving said conveyor linepast said Working operations whereby workers at said working operationscan remove shoes from the racks, work upon them, and replace them uponthe racks after each individual working operation, heating meanspositioned in vertical spaced relation to said conveyor line to heatshoes positioned upon each rack as it moves past the heating means, saidheating means c0mprising a heating zone having opposed side wallsdefining a passage through which the conveyor racks pass, and said wallsbeing provided with infrared heating means directing heat upon saidracks as they pass through the heating Zone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,594,688 Perry Aug. 3, 1926 1,948,127 Perry Feb. 20, 1934 1,961,318White June 5, 1934 2,150,274 Gingell Mar. 14, 1939 2,806,577 Lang Sept.17, 1957 3,024,479 Baker et al. Mar. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 811,824France Apr. 23, 1937 1,004,423 France Apr. 18, 1947 852,059 Germany Aug.7, 1952 384,221 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1932 681,633 Great Britain Oct.29, 1952 840,654 Great Britain July 6, 1960

1. A SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTING SHOES IN MANUFACTURING PLANT THROUGH AMULTIPLICITY OF WORKING OPERATIONS WHICH COMPRISES A MOVABLE CONVEYORLINE, MEANS FOR MOUNTING A MULTIPLICITY OF RACKS ON SAID CONVEYOR LINEAT SPACED INTERVALS, INCLUDING RIGID MEANS CONNECTING THE CONVEYOR LINEWITH EACH SHOE RACK TO SUPPORT THE RACK ADJACENT A WORKER, AND MEANS FORMOVING SAID CONVEYOR LINE PAST SAID WORKING OPERATIONS WHEREBY WORKERSAT SAID WORKING OPERATIONS CAN REMOVE SHOES FROM THE RACKS, WORK UPONTHEM, AND REPLACE THEM UPON THE RACKS AFTER EACH INDIVIDUAL WORKINGOPERATION, AND HEATING MEANS POSITIONED IN VERTICAL SPACED RELATION TOSAID CONVEYOR LINE TO HEAT SHOES POSITIONED UPON EACH RACK AS IT MOVESPAST THE HEATING MEANS, SAID HEATING MEANS COMPRISING A TUNNEL-LIKECHAMBER HAVING AN OPEN FRONT AND REAR END TO ADMIT THE RACK AND BEINGFURTHER PROVIDED WITH AN ELONGATED OPENING TO RECEIVE THE ELONGATEDRIGID ELEMENT CONNECTING THE CONVEYOR LINE WITH THE SHOE RACK.